Offer Vox Luminis sing Handel & Bach

Vox Luminis, Lionel Meunier

Vox Luminis’s reading of the Magnificat seems to revel in a studied pedestrianism sprinkled with eccentricity while the account of Dixit Dominus is brimful of vibrant imagery and committed theatre…For... — Gramophone Magazine, February 2018More…

About

After several recordings on Ricercar and a first disc on Alpha, Actus Tragicus, containing early Bach cantatas, ‘of staggering profundity, purity and beauty’ (ffff Télérama), Lionel Meunier and his ensemble Vox Luminis devote this new project to two showpieces by Handel and Bach.

Of these two composers born in 1685, the first travelled to Italy in 1707 and made a powerful impression in Rome with the creation of his Dixit Dominus, while the second produced one of his finest compositional tours de force in the Magnificat of 1723/32-35. Two works from the core repertoire of the Belgian ensemble, here fielding combined vocal and instrumental forces, which is perfectly versed in the style and expression of Baroque rhetoric.

Reviews

February 2018

Vox Luminis’s reading of the Magnificat seems to revel in a studied pedestrianism sprinkled with eccentricity while the account of Dixit Dominus is brimful of vibrant imagery and committed theatre…For all the misfiring in the Bach, ‘De torrente’ – as unashamedly an erotic product of Handel’s Roman experience as you’ll find – is simply exquisite: tangy, ineffable and beautifully controlled.

10th December 2017

14th January 2018

It’s refreshing to hear both without pile-driving rhythms and over-assertive singing. The gentle inflections and piercing precision of the Handel makes it more successful, highlighting the Italianate background of the piece; the even more demanding Bach taxes the soloists’ skills, though the clarity of the ensemble shines through this most concise of masterpieces.